Ark94's Workout Log

[Andalite]

Ark, read this ASAP: How to Perform the Military Press (Standing Overhead Barbell Press) - Ground Up Strength

 

[ExtraMile]

man ark you make the military press so complicated! Just press the thing above your head like you were putting a box on a shelf! dont think to much about it! And get rid of the habit of bringing your elbows forward and resting with it racked on your shoulders!

if you arch a little when you press fine
if you lean back slighty fine
if you go deep down to your clavicles fine
if you only go down as far as your chin fine
if the bar moves in a straight line fine
if you push the bar back a little as you press fine

aslong as your doing whats comfortable and safe and getting better at it imo

 

[ark94]

sorry for the late response, its going to be really difficult this week.

B1 W4 – Deadlift Emphasis
(weightxrepsxsets)​

Deadlifts
135x5
185x5
205x3
225x5x3 (reduced rest periods between reps, and sets)

Front Squats
45x5
95x4
115x3
125x2
145x3x3

Planks
3 sets 1minute

Videos - YouTube - B1 W4 - Deadlift Emphasis.wmv

Notes

Wow, holy fuck I am surprised I could even walk into the gym let alone lift.... work is so fucking hard. I know for a fact that NO teenager or anybody my age would do the work I do, and there are hardly any adults out there that would do it either! My dad has worked in a factory for 33years and done all sorts of hard work and he said he would never do this work. He envies me But it is really fucking hard, I got home and could barely walk to the shower, then just fell on my carpet and rested. I have to do the same thing for the next week or maybe two, and I was seriously debating making this a rest week.

Deadlifts – how does my form look? I reduced my rest periods between reps, and my form I know could have been better if I was feeling good, but like I said I could barely walk so I did what I could.

Front Squats – fuck these were killer! It was light weight, and I know it was because I did 145x5x2 Friday and even on my first rep on my first set I was just fucking exhausted.

 

[ark94]

again, sorry for the late response.

B1 W4 – Bench Emphasis
(weightxrepsxsets)​

Bench Press
45x5
95x5
115x3
135x2
145x1
155x4
155x4
155x3 (headache was brutal, about to drop the bar on myself)

Dumbbell Rows
65x8x1 (work has definitely gotten to me, I didn’t have any explosivness on any reps. Even my rep 1 was equivalent to my 8th rep, very slow. I also lost count here, I clearly had no mental focus with my headache bothering me I lost count)
65x7x2

Dumbbell Press
30x8
50x8
50x8
50x8

Inverted Rows
Bwx5x5

Facepulls
70x20x2

Notes

Fuck my life. I am not upset over my workout, I am just pissed I went in with a headache and another full day of work which again exhausted the living hell out of me. Working outside in a undershirt, t-shirt, thick hoodie sweater, and heavy wool gloves and running back and forth thousands of times is really taxing on the body. Not even sure why I went today, and I really wanted to just get out. My workout only took a fucking hour.... normally my bench would take 30-45minutes ALONE, maybe even a bit longer! Ugh..

Bench Press – I really wanted to just get it done with and tie what I had last week. But it is soo hard to bench with a throbbing headache. I almost dropped the bar on myself last rep last set, that bad. Oh well, I am just curious for next week Andalite, are we going to be using 160? Or.. :s I know I could have pulled out more reps than last week, but work got in the way definitely.

 

[JDid23]

Ark- if you went back 2 months and told yourself you'd have a 225x5x3 deadlift, 155 for 4/4/3 bench, 145x3x3 front squat--- would you be disappointed? We all have our off days, but yours has come at a point where you're killing it most workouts. Keep up the good work man!

 

[Andalite]

Your form on Deadlifts has deteriorated. Your ass is rising before the bar moves. That is wrong. Stay conscious of this.

Here's what we're going to do.

1.) Stay conscious of it.

2.) Add in Bulgarian Split Squats after the Deadlifts. No more Front Squats for the next Block. As in, no more Front Squats after Deadlifts.

3.) You will be doing Cable Pullthroughs on Squat day.

Before we discuss next week, give me a layout of the exercise selection for Block 1. I'll make the changes and let you know what to do next week.

 

[ghettostudmuffin]

Good stuff. Keep going. Stay in the game for several years, train hard, eat big and you'll get there.

You look pretty damn tall. 200lbs probably won't look that big on you since you're 170ish atm.

Now if you gained another 25-30lbs of almost all muscle in the next couple years you would look pretty solid, but still not big.

My guess you would have to weight 220lbs minimum and be a very solid 220 before you start looking big.

Nothing to worry about though. Your weight gain is good. Just keep on training and eating. It'll come in time if you stay consistent for several years.

 

[ark94]

Good stuff. Keep going. Stay in the game for several years, train hard, eat big and you'll get there.

You look pretty damn tall. 200lbs probably won't look that big on you since you're 170ish atm.

Now if you gained another 25-30lbs of almost all muscle in the next couple years you would look pretty solid, but still not big.

My guess you would have to weight 220lbs minimum and be a very solid 220 before you start looking big.

Nothing to worry about though. Your weight gain is good. Just keep on training and eating. It'll come in time if you stay consistent for several years.

Thanks a ton Ghetto. I am about 6ft/6ft 1 . 220 is a hella a lot of weight to get to, but i like it this way just having steady gains and eating a lot. Just it takes a long time

Your form on Deadlifts has deteriorated. Your ass is rising before the bar moves. That is wrong. Stay conscious of this.

Here's what we're going to do.

1.) Stay conscious of it.

2.) Add in Bulgarian Split Squats after the Deadlifts. No more Front Squats for the next Block. As in, no more Front Squats after Deadlifts.

3.) You will be doing Cable Pullthroughs on Squat day.

Before we discuss next week, give me a layout of the exercise selection for Block 1. I'll make the changes and let you know what to do next week.

Thank you andalite for watching the video! I thought my deadlift form was off, but my ass raising first has always been a consistent problem with me.

Not sure if you want the whole routine you suggested, or just Deadlift Emphasis day, but either way i'll give it all because im going to work and won't be back till later tonight.

Template 1
​

Deadlift Emphasis:

Deadlifts: Take 90% of your max and work off that. So, for you that would be 205 lbs roughly. Start the first week by doing 3x3 with this. Then, assuming your quality of reps holds up, slowly increase volume by first adding reps and then sets. Then increase the weight. Or ramp it up. Something which you could do is:
Week 1: 205x3x3 (btw..I write weight x reps x sets)
Week 2: 205x4x3 <<-- total reps added is 3.
Week 3: 205x4x4
Week 4: 205x3, 215x3, 225x3 <<-- new "PR"
Week 5: 215x3x2, 225x1
Week 6: 215x3x3
Week 7: 215x4x4 <<-- you added sets and reps here. Double progression.
Week 8: 225x2x2 <<--- this is basically a deload where you have reduced the volume (from 4x4 to 2x2) but you have upped the intensity thereby allowing a better training effect
Week 9: 235x3x3 <<---whoa...this is TRIPLE PROGRESSION: you added weight, sets and reps!!
This should give you somewhat of an idea. You don't need to plan all 9 weeks out right now. we have to do 1 week at a time. If you're ever in doubt, just contact me. Next:
Front Squats: Do 3-4 heavy sets. You don't need to have this planned. Just work up to a 3-5 heavy sets of however many reps you choose. Once you set a base standard you can then build off that. The principle here remains the same as with Deadlifts
Core Training: Choose 1 of the exercises and do 3-4 heavy sets

Bench Emphasis:

Bench Press: Do lots of singles, doubles and triples here.
Dumbbell Press: Do this at a slight incline. Do 3 sets of 5-8 reps. Infact, I think you should start week 1 with some weight for 3 sets of 5 reps and then every week add 1 rep till you hit 8 and at that point increase the weight.
Dumbbell Rows: You absolutely MUST do this for 3-5 reps and 3-5 sets. This is meant to be heavy but your form must be perfect. Do them with both feet on the ground and your hand resting on a bench (just look my videos on youtube).
Inverted Rows:
Facepulls: Do 1-2 sets for 15-20 reps. You want big traps? This will help, trust me.

Squat Emphasis:

OH Squat Practice: Look this article up: Ground Up Strength: Tweaking the Overhead Squat: Dislocates, Reaching Back, Grip Width and Mobility Drills
Front Squats: Do 3x3 on these. Heavy.
Unilateral RDLs: 2 sets of 6-7 reps.
Cable PullThroughs:
Grip Training: What can you do for grip training? Farmers walks?

Full Body:

OH Squat Practice: Do 10-20 sets of 1-2 reps. You really need to mentally focus on extending the thoracic cavity in the bottom position. Basically dedicate a good 30-40 minutes after your mobility drills to this exercise.
Overhead Press: these must be done strict. You can do your 3x5 here if you like.
Push Press: you can do 3x3 on this one...or 2x5. dunno what floats your boat. hell, because this is a template you can change this every 5th or 6th week
Pull-ups: Do 5 sets to failure. Very important.
Core Training: Hit it heavy and hard.

 

[Andalite]

Ok, minor changes for block 2.



BLOCK 2


Deadlift Emphasis:

• Deadlifts - for the first week, take 225 and do 4 sets of 3 reps i.e. 225x3x4
• Cable Pullthroughs - 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps
• Bulgarian Split Squats - 2-3 sets of 5-7 reps
• Hammer Curls - 1-2 heavy sets of 2-3 reps
• Core Training

Bench Emphasis: (Everything stays the same)

• Bench Press
• Dumbbell Rows
• Unilateral Standing Dumbbell Overhead Press
• Inverted Rows
• Facepulls
• Core Training

Squat Emphasis:

• OH Squat Practice
• Front Squats
• Speed Deadlifts @ 50% of your max. Do 50%x2x7
• Reverse Lunges
• Grip Training
• Core Training

Full Body Training:

• OH Squat Practice
• Overhead Press
• Pull-ups
• Push-ups
• Core Training

I'll go over the plan for weights as you post your workouts for this week.

 

[ark94]

This is for my reference, i also have a question.

Everything looked good. We need you to take more weight on the RDLs.

Ok, so for next week:

Front Squats: 145x5x3 <<-- add 1 set
RDLs: Start @ 135 and add 20 lbs each set. Do 3-5 sets. Keep all reps to 6. If you get 6, add weight. Weight to be added = 10 lbs.
Cable Pullthroughs: 70x9x4
Grip Training: Try to hold longer

Good luck and keep up the good work!

Okay, so for the RDL's, is it okay to use chalk? And what are some tips you have for gripping the bar. I know where to grip and whatnot, but when i do my reps even with the light weight i was using the bar really starts to slip slowly out of my hands. Anything that would help that other than my grip training exercise.


And i appreciate everyone in here the help and the responses. I would like to get back to the responses but i really cannot with all the work, i am just resting any chance i get. So don't think im ignoring you, just been busy.